Prescription of new drugs by general practitioners in Pakistan: an exploration into information sources, prescription influences and general attitudes

In Pakistan, an average of 2000 brands are approved for marketing by the Government of Pakistan annually. However, there is a dearth of studies on the topic of sources of information used by physicians regarding new drugs and important factors, which lead to actual prescription of these drugs. To explore the common sources of information concerning new drugs for the General Practitioners [GPs] and to study different factors influencing their prescription. The study design was cross-sectional descriptive. Licensed GPs registered with Pakistan Medical and Dental Council working in both institutional and independent settings included. A total of 124 GPs from 5 districts of Pakistan namely Karachi, Lahore, Hyderabad, Multan, Larkana and other smaller towns participated in the study. They were interviewed with the help of a Questionnaire. Potential sources of information and influential factors regarding prescription derived from a thorough review of literature were listed in the Questionnaire. Representatives from pharmaceutical companies [82%] represented the most common source of information about new drugs followed by Pharma guide [51.6%] and medical journals [41.8%]. When asked about the factors which influenced them to start prescribing new drugs, 75.2% listed pharmaceutical representatives as being an influencing factor. This was followed by good reputation of pharmaceutical company [64.5%] and drug samples given by the respective companies [45.5%]. The results of our study establish pharmaceutical representatives and pharmaceutical advertisements as the major source of information regarding new drugs for GPs in Pakistan followed by Pharma guides, medical colleagues and medical journals